Baseball to historical atrocities in about one line: I 0wnX0r ur h1story

[sami]

I'm watching baseball again. This time: Detroit Tigers vs Texas Rangers.

I want Detroit to win.

Why? Because the name "Texas Rangers" offends me, pretty much. Even though I have a friend in Texas (who was deeply offended last time I mentioned my dislike of the very concept of "Texas Rangers"), and I'm not sure offhand that I know anyone from Michigan at all. I studied some US history - the Texas Rangers perpetrated some of the worst atrocities I've ever even heard of. (And bear in mind that my fields of historical examination have included Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia and medieval Europe. I know from atrocities.)

No, I won't go into details. If you don't know, you don't want to.

History is not a nice discipline. It's interesting, and sometimes heartwarming, but history features some of the most vicious, ugly, nasty events you can imagine. History is a field that gets you to a point where you see some of the things that, in fiction, are meant to be extreme - depictions of brutality, of small and large-scale atrocities, and so on - and you think: call that a war crime? That's weak!

The reason I don't like that kind of thing, in the fiction that I read, is that I've read the same and worse done to real people. Once, studying Soviet history, I was reading accounts of events that happened in 1931-32, and realised that I had to take a break - because if I didn't, I was going to throw up. (I was already crying.) I stopped, went to the campus science fiction club's room, where there were people, some of them my friends. When people asked what was wrong, I told them I was reading truly horrifying history, and I'd come to be distracted from that, carry on.

To my eternal gratitude, people resumed their conversations, while one friend gave me a hug, and eventually the nausea faded and the tears gave way to laughter.

The Texas Rangers did things worse than what caused that.

And so: hate. Go Detroit.

Comments

[ex_wicker969]

I hate not knowing stuff in history so I went and googled a bit and holy crap, this was not in any part of the Mexican War they taught me. :(

I fully realize what parts of this war are total bullshit but I haven't examined much of the mythical stuff from wars past, particularly 19th century wars, which should be just as fucked up. I think I'll do more of that, remind myself what Marine history looks like from the other side.

Thank you, this was a nice reminder to be honest with myself.

[sami]

I don't want to traumatise you, but I wasn't even thinking about the Mexican War. The Texas Rangers' record of dealing with the Indian population is. Um. If I tell you it involves using dismembered women-specific body parts as saddle decorations, do you start to get the idea?

I think the reason I have such a deep and abiding hatred and loathing for the Texas Rangers is that other groups aren't still going, and you don't have, say, the German national soccer team being called the Deutschland Gestapo, or any equivalent of Walker, Texas Ranger. The crimes are so unacknowledged.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

The lack of acknowledgement is sadly endemic. Twenty Medals of Honor -- the highest military honor possible in the US -- were given out to soldiers involved in the Wounded Knee massacre, and they've STILL never been rescinded.

[lanterne_rouee]

ah, very true. i was so wrung out by the time i finished my undergraduate history degree. i went into a big 'ain't gonna study war no more' phase. it's gut-wrenching, most of the time.

just enjoying perusing your 'history' tag, btw. :)